The Project
by Born Of True Pride
Summary: We aren't allowed to say the Socs in this place or anywhere in the East Side. It's prohibited, and anyone who does has to go through this program they call The Project. There, a team of special doctors are allowed to do whatever they have too to make sure that you don't remember anything about your past. And that includes the people in it.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE:**

_The air in _the room completely smells of bleach and wet paint. It's enough to make me gag, but as much as I want to call up to my teacher who sits at the front of the room, clearly submerged inside the book she's so-called reading I don't. I remain quiet and watch as student after student hands in their daily test with sunken expressions on their faces; it's as if they have no emotion at all.

"Why aren't you handing in your test?"

I blink, coming back to reality and staring at the orange eyes of Kenya Baker. Those aren't her real eyes; her eyes are actually a pale and light green, though she's decided orange is her best color and wanted contacts to match her crazed orange-fested outfit she's wearing today.

It takes me a moment to respond to her question. "I'm sorry, what?"

Kenya lets out a small huff of annoyance and rolls her eyes. "God, Soda. You deaf or something? I asked why you weren't handing in your test."

"I'm not done yet, Kenya." I say. My voice is so rough from not talking all of class the words are hard to comprehend.

She blows a chunk of golden brown hair out of her eyes then narrows them upon me. "You know if you don't turn it in within a minute, they're gonna come and get you."

I focus my attention behind her, where the clock hangs on the wall; it's 8:08 AM in Tulsa, and classes here in the East Side start at 8:10. I need to turn my test in to my teacher, Miss Halbirch, before she starts screaming for the one student who did not turn in their test to please come and turn it in for class to officially start, even if you're not done. That one student is almost always me, Sodapop Curtis.

Almost.

There's suddenly a tap on my cheek and a gush of wind that smells of cigarettes and peppermint blows on my face. A tap on my temple soon follows the pair. "You in there, Soda? I've never seen you so wacked out. You're acting as if the-"

I lean forward in my seat and cover Kenya's mouth with my hand. She isn't allowed to say the Socs in this place or anywhere in the East Side. It's prohibited, and anyone who does has to go through this program they call The Project. There, a team of special doctors are allowed to do whatever they have too to make sure that you don't remember anything about your past.

And that includes the people in it.

"Don't say their names," I hiss. "You know what the travelers can do to you."

The travelers are the Socs little spies, so to speak. They go from school to school around all of Oklahoma, trying to find kids that are Tainted, or have the signs of depression. If you show signs or it's clear you are Tainted they take you to the West Side, where their kind live. There they have control of you, and you're stuck there for eternity; or unless you can find a way out alive.

So far, no one has.

Just as Kenya opens her mouth to reply the door to our classroom opens, and two travelers step inside. Our teacher continues on with her lesson even though no eyes are on her anymore; instead the entire class is staring at the travelers, mouths open in silent gapes of shock and plea. They can only hope that they aren't next to be taken to the West Side to be erased of their past and forced into the present with no recognition of who the hell they are.

The travelers are silent as they walk around the room, studying each of our gazes; probably trying to see if we're Tainted or not. I shift my gaze from them and onto my desk, where I pick at a hard piece of gum that hangs off of the side with my pencil.

I suddenly hear a shriek from in front of me, and raise my head to find the traveler's wrestling with Kenya. She's kicking, screaming, thrashing and pleading with them not to take her, her orange eyes wild with fury. The traveler's do nothing and make their way towards the door just as Kenya manages to scramble her way out of the one that's holding her grasp. Before she can even take a step towards freedom the second traveler bowls her over, knocking her against the wall as he shoves a needle dripping with clear liquid deep into her wrist. "Soda! Help me!" She cries out loud as tears of anger flow down her face and curses out of her mouth. The two men -along with the class- turn to look at where I sit in the back of the room.

I do nothing but jot down the notes the teacher wrote on the board as the traveler's drag Kenya's body out of the room, staring straight ahead as if I had never seen her before in my life.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO:**

_The minute that _I step into Two-Bit's shaggy, piece of crap car he and Steve immediately start asking questions:

"Are you okay?"

"Heard that Kenya broad was taken to The Project." Steve shudders at the thought of the large building a few miles from the school. "They seem to be takin' more everyday."

"No shit," Two-Bit adds hastily, blowing a puff of smoke from a cigarette into Steve's face. "I ain't gonna be surprised when they take one of us too."

"Speaking of which," Steve says, turning around in his seat to look directly at me. "You been called in to talk yet, Soda?" His tone is mocking, full of clear laughter; but I take it different.

I've taken a lot of things differently since my brother died in my arms three months ago.

"Both of you, shut the hell up!" I snap, not in the mood to talk. I just want to be home, and much to my relief we drive away from the school in silence.

We manage to make it into my driveway until Steve breaks the silence. "You gonna talk or what?"

"Steve," Two-Bit says, warning clear in his voice as he shoots me a glance from the corner of his eye. "Don't you dare say anything about you-know-what."

Steve's mouth flattens into a hard straight line as he turns to face Two-Bit. My hand is gripping the handle of the car door tightly, and I'll do whatever I have too in order to get out of this car if things get ugly between them. But Steve just sends Two-Bit a glare and then returns his attention to me, his eyes narrowing. "Why ain't you talkin' to anyone no more, Soda? Brother's death got you tied up?" He smirks at his comment, knowing all good and well he's pissing me off.

I lurch forward and grab Steve's neck tightly in my hand, cutting off his air supply to let him know I'm seriously pissed and I'll break his neck if I have too. I'll do anything to get him to shut up about my brother's death. "Fuck you, man. Fuck you." I say and release his neck from my grasp, climbing out of the car and walking up to my house without another word to either of them.

* * *

**Two-Bit:**

I watch Soda go inside his house and slam the door behind him, the sound being heard through the thick material of my car.

I hear Steve sigh and look over at him, finding him sitting against the window with a hand over his eyes. "I think I fucked up, Two-Bit."

I let out a snort at his words. "You fucked up bad, man. Real bad."

"Damn it." Steve says and removes his hand from his eyes to wipe at his face harshly, even though he has nothing on it. "Should I go apologize?"

I shake my head. If I know Soda, it's that it takes him a day or two to cool down with anything Steve says about his brother or family all together. "Not right now, anyway. But he's sure to get over it within a day or two, 'cause that's how his brain work nowadays."

"He hasn't been the same, though." Steve says, watching as rain begins to fall on the windows of my car, small drops of water gliding across the windows like they're dancing or chasing each other all the way down to the bottom. "It's like we've lost him ever since Pony killed himself three months ago..."

I allow silence to step in between us for a moment before I place a hand on Steve's shoulder, knowing how much it hurts to lose a best friend. "I know, man." I say, tears stinging my eyes at the thought of Ponyboy's casket being lowered down into the ground again. "I know..."

* * *

**Soda:**

"Why're you staring out the window, Soda?"

I turn away from looking out the window to find my brother Darry leaning against the wall that leads to our bedrooms. One of them is empty and it will probably never be opened again; that one room is my younger brother, Pony's.

Pony killed himself about three months ago from unknown reasons; neither Darry or myself have ever found out the reason that led him to kill himself, but from what officials say it was to avoid from getting sent to The Project. At the time -when both Darry and I were still having a hard time believing he was dead- I had merely scoffed, said a couple of rude words in the guy's face and had to be pushed out of the office by Darry in order to not leap at the guy and demand an actual, logical answer.

I look out the window again, avoiding my brother's eyes. "Nothin', just thinking."

"About?"

I turn my head to look at him again, my mouth pressed into a thin line. "I dunno, just stuff..." I let out an aggravated sigh and rub my eyes, suddenly feeling tired. "Why do you care anyway? It ain't like I'm doing anything to cause us harm."

My only living brother's eyes flash with hurt for a moment and I see him slightly flinch at my words. "You're my only brother now, Soda... I-I guess I just don't want you to end up like..." He stops abruptly, captured in his memories.

I quickly move to Darry's side and clasp him on the shoulder, shaking him gently to get him out of his daze. "You're okay, Dar." I say, smiling weakly at him in an attempt to seem happy. "Nothin' bad is gonna happen to me. I can assure you."

He nods absentmindedly, mumbling to himself under his breath. I let him stay there by the wall, while I go into my room -my parents old one, to be exact. Digging under my bed for something I haven't used in a long time and wanting to get away from my thoughts, I grab one of Pony's old journals and read the last line of the final page.

Tears sting my eyes as I read the last sentence my brother had written before he out that gun to his head and pulled the trigger:

_I'm just fucking tired and I feel like ending it... At least then I'll be some place where I belong._

Well, I think you got what you wished for, Pony.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: In this chapter we will meet one new character, Kat. She's based off of my best friend in both real life and on this website, so stick around for that. **

**I'm sorry this chapter took so long to update... But I've made it long, so hopefully that makes up for it. **

**Into Chapter Three! Please leave a review!**

**CHAPTER THREE:**

I'm standing outside my small house, smoking a cigarette when Steve approaches me from inside.

"You know I didn't mean those words I said, right?"

I nod at his question in understanding, yet don't say a word.

"You know that I regret it, right?"

I nod again, and just like before I don't say a word.

He sighs in what seems to be relief. "Well, that's good I guess." I can feel his gaze on my cigarette, as if he wants to ask for one yet can't find the right words. "Um... You got more of those, Soda?"

I reach into the front pocket of my jeans and pull out the box, flip it open, and offer one to him. He takes it with shaking hands yet I know he is grateful. I reach into my back pocket, pull out a match, strike it against the metal rail of the stairs leading up to our house, light it for him and then blow it out and toss it to the ground, squishing it beneath the heel of my shoe.

Steve scoffs suddenly, and I steal him a side glance only to find him looking the other way into the distance. "Heard they took another one today." He says.

This time I find the urge to speak. "Who was it?"

Steve looks at me then, his eyes -much like his mother's, a light hazel- boring into my dark brown. "Angela Shepard."

**Steve:**

This time it's Soda's eyes that narrow. "Are you sure?"

I snort in response to his words. "I watched them take her, Soda. She's in my English class, remember?"

It takes him a moment to ponder this, but after about a minute his eyes grow wide. "Tim Shepard's sister?"

"Who in the hell else would it be?" I say, rolling my eyes.

Soda merely shrugs at this, then lifts the cigarette to his lips and takes a long drag. I'm surprised to see him smoking; he never does unless something big is on his mind, and after what I said to him I'm guessing that's what it is.

"I just can't believe they'd take her," Soda says absentmindedly, as if he's talking to himself. "how the hell is Two-Bit gonna take this?"

Two-Bit Mathews just happens to be Angela's boyfriend of seven months, plus one of our gang. "I dunno, man." I say, leaning on my heels so I can sit on one of the porch steps. "But I can assure you he ain't gonna be happy about it."

"What're you two sayin' about my girl?"

Soda and I whip around, trying to stay calm at the sight of the person leaning in the doorway with his arms across his chest.

It's Two-Bit, and he looks pissed.

**Soda:**

"You've got five minutes to explain why the hell you were talking about Angela behind my back." Two-Bit practically snarls the words, his eyes narrowed and seething with a fire I've never seen in them before.

I send Steve a glare from the corner of my eye, one that gets my point across: _You didn't even tell him about it?_

_I wanted to wait,_ Steve mentally answers, as of we're telepathically speaking to one another. _I thought now wouldn't be a good time._

_Well, you thought too late,_ I send him one last glare before turning to Two-Bit, who looks about ready to murder both of us if we don't get to our explanation.

"You see, Steve and I were-" Inside the house, the phone rings, and Steve and I sigh silently in relief; saved by the phone. Two-Bit shoots us both a glare and stomped off to the phone. Steve and I follow, and stop in our tracks when we see Two-bit start to cry.

We share a look that clearly says: _He found out._

"She... she... are you... my God..." He mutters into the phone, fighting back sobs.

"Okay, thanks... And Tim? I'm sorry." He hangs up, then leans against the wall, eyes distant.

Everyone knows Two-Bit was planning to marry Angela. He never says anything about it, neither does she, but you could just tell when Two-Bit saw a ring. The way his eyes got bright and he smiled, seeing something wonderful in his mind.

And it was crushed now.

Steve's eyes get distant too. He was thinking something; being his best friend for his whole life I can tell when he's thinking long and hard about something. "We should try to see her. Soda, don't you know someone who knows about the project?"

I nodded. Kat. They never ask how she knows, they just assume.

They also assume we're just friends.

Steve walks up to Two-Bit and places a hand on his shoulder, sending me a glance from the corner of his eye. "Come on, Two-Bit, let's leave Soda alone for a bit." With a distraught nod, Two-Bit allows Steve to led him away from the kitchen, leaving me alone standing the middle of my own house, staring at the phone.

In one quick movement I'm by the receiver, dialing Kat's number frantically.

Much to my relief she picks up almost immediately. "Hello, this is Katherine White."

"Hey Kat." I say, a smile spreading across my face at the sound of her voice.

"Sodapop!" She loves to say my name like that. When we first met, she didn't believe that was my real name.

"So what's up?" She asks, her voice oddly warm through the phone.

"Do you know how we can see Angela Shepard? They took her to the..." I freeze and trail off. I can't say it... I can't say The Project without cringing.

Pause. "Give me a minute to bring up the layout of the building."

"AHA!" Kat yells after several moments of rustling and grumbling under her breath through the phone, almost bursting my eardrum. In most cases, Two-Bit would have laughed his ass off.

But not today.

"There's an entrance underground, a secret evacuation route. However..." She draws out the word, only making my fear increase more as seconds tick by.

"However?"

"The entryway is in the sewers." She states simply. A long pause of silence draws in between us, and then Kat speaks again. "You're quiet... You and sewers aren't a good match or something?"

"No, it's not that," I say, looking around the room to make sure no one is overhearing our conversation. "It's just that..." I trail off, unable to muster up any words to finish the sentence.

"That...? Come on, Soda, don't be a smartass and not tell me." Kat says, a hint of laughter coming through the phone line.

I sigh and then continue. "I... I miss us, Kat. I miss you."

"Sodapop, I'm sorry. As soon as I get free time from work I'll come see you. I promise. I've got a lot of paperwork lately, but they're training more office people, so I should be off by next week at the latest." She says sweetly, and the wide smile is back on my face.

She gasps suddenly and quickly says, "I have to call you back in a second, Soda. Check your plans for tomorrow."

And she hangs up without giving me the chance to tell her I love her.

I remove the dead phone from my ear and stare at it in wonder. Where'd she go? Was she okay? Was she being hurt by her father again?

At the thought of her father I narrow my eyes on the phone and scream, throwing it across the room at such a high speed it smashes the glass window just above our countertop. I clench my fists, opening and closing them over and over, trying to calm down.

I can almost hear her soft voice in my ear, as if she's beside me: _Calm down, it's fine... You're fine, I'm fine... It's all fine..._

"You're not fine as long as you're with that monster you call a father." I snarl, saying the common response to that statement whenever Kat would say that to me.

I jump as the phone rings again, and I quickly grab it, afraid I'll hear Kat's fathers voice instead of her own.

I sigh in relief as I hear Kat's voice, this time it's happier than usual. "Sodapop, guess what." She says, squealing like a little girl into the phone.

"Are you okay? I swear I'll beat the bastard if he touched you." I ramble through question after question, all of my fear flowing out of my body and into the phone line.

I can practically hear Kat's smile through the phone. "Soda, I just got promoted. And I get the rest of the week off."

I lean against the wall, a wide smile appearing on my face. I grow serious and fearful yet again as I ask her the same questions, this time with more intensity and protection. "Kat, tell me what the hell he did to you. Did he touch you again? Are you sure you're okay? You want me to come over there and kick his ass for you?"

"Soda, I'm fine." She draws out the word fine, trying to get me to believe it. "I can probably stay at your place, if it makes you feel any better. Okay?"

I chuckle at her words. "Sneak through the window."

"Which one?" She asks. "Leave one open." She's taking it literally.

"Always." I reply, a smile behind my words.

I hear her stuffing things inside a bag, then the words: "Love you. I'll be over in a bit."

She leaves me standing there with a huge smile on my face.

**Kat:**

I hang up and get up from my desk, take my flashdrive out of the computer and drop it into my purse. I tidy up my desk real quick and leave the office, heading to my truck.

Yes, a truck. I picked it- a cherry-red, humongous pickup truck.

Being on the West Side of Tulsa, Oklahoma Socs like myself could quit school and get a job in The Project. I chose the job.

Luckily my boyfriend doesn't know I do this.

I drive home, planning to slip into my room, pack the rest of my things and slip back out.

Well, when I got home, let's just say my amazing plan didn't happen.

Gregory was there. My father. No, I remind myself, my other father, who doesn't approve of my hertiage of being a Social while he used to be a Greaser, one of the many hoodlums who live on the East Side of Tulsa.

I shouldn't be saying that... My boyfriend, Sodapop Patrick Curtis, happens to be one of them himself.

"Where are you going?" Gregory asks coldly, narrowing his eyes upon my sudden burst into the house.

"To a friend's. I got promoted and she thinks we should celebrate by relaxing a bit. Move out of my way, please." I say, moving slightly forward so I can squeeze past him.

A sudden pain is blooming into my shoulder, making bone scrape against bone in a viper-like grip. It'll leave a bruise, but not one I can't hide with some makeup. Gregory's blue eyes watch me skeptically. I know he doesn't believe me by the cold look in his eyes; a look I've gotten used too living with the bastard since I was adopted by him six years ago.

He lets out a blood-curdling laugh, one that rattles my bones and the floor beneath us. "A promotion? You? What did you do, bribe your boss?"

I got red. I always got angry whenever he implied I was a... I won't even say it. I pushed past him, walked up the stairs to my room, grabbed a few things and shoved them into a duffel bag, stormed outside and walked to my truck, slamming the door behind me.

I wasn't going to deal with him. I was too happy right now.

I drive off, nearly hitting Greg, who was running after my car rather idiotically. I laugh at the sight of him and head in the direction of Soda's house with a rather joyous scream as I allow my adopted father's image get farther and farther away until he's out of my sight.


End file.
